Asian Cup Match 19: Palestine Gain First Tournament Win Against Chinese

The following article provides an oversight for matches and tournaments taking place in 2020.

Asian Cup Match 19: Palestine v China

Palestine Gain First Tournament Win Against Chinese

January 9th, 2020

Palestine 1 China 0

 

Palestine produced a solid display of defensive strategy as they defeated China by a solitary goal.

 

Palestine swapped Sameh Maraaba in for Saleh Chihadeh up front. Zheng Zhi came in for Hao Junmin at right midfield for China.

 

It was the Middle East side scoring early with a chip pass over to Islam Batran in the sixth minute, setting up the possibility over overcoming the Chinese, even though the Chinese were the favourites coming into the match.

 

China were methodical in their advances, making the Palestinian defence move around. Their first real shot came from a corner, where Zheng Zhi missed a header.

 

Elkeson also had a great chance, working from the left wing back to in front of goal, only to miss to the same side as Zheng Zhi.

 

After the break, Batran nearly scored again as he ran in from the right wing to header straight for goal, only to miss to the left.

 

Palestine held on in defence in spite of China’s efforts, and the three points went the way of the Middle Eastern side. China, meanwhile, are in danger of not qualifying for the Round of 16 and must win their final match to have any chance of doing so.

 

Important aspects of the match:

Palestine’s best afield: Batran on right midfield with his early goal; Adbellatif Al-Bahdari as captain in defence with three key clearances and two intercepts; Mohammed Darwish in defensive midfield with his goal assist and most dribbles overall.

Mohammed Rashid with most passes overall.

Abdullah Jaber with three key clearances and one intercept.

 

China’s best afield: Zheng Zheng at left back with most tackles, four intercepts and three clearances; Yang Xu with most dribble attempts for China; Zhu Chenjie in defence with second-most tackles, two key intercepts and one clearance.

Chi Zhongguo with most passes for China.